


Few and Far Between

by AllTheQueensHorses



Category: The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Genre: F/M, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23633749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllTheQueensHorses/pseuds/AllTheQueensHorses
Summary: In which Eugenides has a migraine, Attolia comes to see what is wrong.Set sometime early in The King of Attolia.
Relationships: Attolia | Irene/Eugenides
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	Few and Far Between

The door to Eugenides’ room clicked open quietly but it was enough the king heard it.

“Get. Out.” he spat from the darkness of the room, “How many times do I have to tell you...” His voice trailed off as he saw who had disturbed him in the doorway. He laid back resigned on the bed, his arm returning to cover his eyes in the crook of his elbow, his dark curls crowning his red silk sleeve.

“My Queen,” he said quietly.

“My King,” Attolia replied.

There was silence for several moments as her eyes adjusted and Attolia took in the room. The curtains were drawn tight and not a single lamp or candle lit the room. The narrow crack of light from the hallway spread its way under the door and across the floor, her silhouette breaking it in two. Attolia knew her husband could find his way around the room, nay, the whole castle on the darkest night but this was something different.

“A migrane.” he said wearily, to her unasked question. “Gods know, they come few and far between, but...” his voice trailed off and the silence of the room took over again. His hook was discarded on the bedside table, his wrist laying bare against the dark covers.

Attolia hesitated for a moment inside the doorway, before moving towards the bed. She stepped over a book laying open on the floor by the door, her skirts making the slightest of whispers against the floor. Eugenides didn’t lift his arm from his eyes but Attolia knew he was listening.

“Your attendants were concerned for you.” She murmured as she sat on the edge of the bed.

Eugenides snorted. “Concerned for their jobs, maybe.”

“Or their heads,” she said with a hint of amusement, looking towards the book by the door.

He didn’t respond except to pinch the bridge of his nose, wincing slightly. His brows were drawn together in a frown and his lips were pursed in pain. Attolia hesitated, then reached forward with both hands.

“May I?” She asked.

Eugenides cracked an eye open to look at her, then closed it again and nodded. It still didn’t stop him from flinching slightly when Attolia touched both hands to his face. She told herself it was because of the migrane sensitivities, not because of...anything else.

She gently kneaded the line above his brow with her thumbs before working her way down to either side of his nose, all the while her fingers massaging at his temples as well.

Eugenides sighed, more of a breath than a sound, and Attolia could see the tenseness in his shoulders slowly dissolving as she worked.

She sat beside him for several minutes until her fingers grew stiff and her king’s breathing grew deeper. Eventually, she drew her hands back, quietly gathered herself together and stood.

When she placed her hand on the door to return to her rooms, there was a soft voice.

“Irene?” Not ‘My Queen.’

She paused for a moment to look back into the dark room in answer.

“Thank you.”

It was even quieter, almost a whisper, but the words held much more meaning. The corner of her lips upturned in a hint of a smile and she slipped through the door.

XXXXXX

Thank you for reading! <3 


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